1,036 related texts · 11 related myths · Page 20 of 22
"And He said, Approach not hither, take the shoe from thy feet, for the place on which thou standest is a holy place; and upon it thou art to receive the Law, to teach it to the so...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 14:10) splits the scene at the Sea of Reeds into two simultaneous acts of worship. Behind Israel, Pharaoh has arrived at the camp and sees the...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 14:11) does not soften Israel's complaint. It sharpens it, and it names the complainers. They are not "the people." They are "the wicked gener...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 14:19) watches a careful choreography. The Angel of the Lord, who had been leading Israel from the front, suddenly moves. He goes behind them....
When the people grumbled for bread, Moses's reply, as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders it, is a lesson in chain-of-command theology: By this you shall know, when the Lord prepareth y...
When the people again cried for water, the Holy One's instruction to Moses, as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders (Exodus 17:5), is quietly pointed: Pass over before the people, and ta...
Some places carry the scar of what happened there in their very name. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan explains that Moses called the site of the water-crisis "Temptation and Strife", in...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan sharpens Jethro's warning with a realism the plain text softens: "Thou wilt verily wear thyself away. Aaron also, and his sons, and the elders of thy peo...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan closes Jethro's advice with a striking promise: "If thou wilt do this, and exempt thyself from judging (every case) as the Lord shall give thee instructi...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan spells out the staggering arithmetic of Moses's judicial reform: "Moses selected able men from all Israel, and appointed them chief over the people, rabb...
How did the Ten Words arrive? The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan describes it with cosmic theatre. "The first word, as it came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be blessed, ...
After the thunder and the twelve-mile retreat, the people beg Moses to speak to them instead of God. And Moses answers with a line that still echoes. "Fear not; for the glory of th...
(Exodus 28:1) names the first family of Jewish priests. Aharon, brother of Moses, is brought near with his four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Elazar, and Itamar. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan p...
When Moses came down from Sinai, he was carrying something that did not come from earth. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the tradition with striking specificity: God gave to Moses...
When the people demanded a golden idol from Aaron, they had to find gold. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves a startling detail not in the plain Hebrew: their wives denied themselves...
The plain Hebrew says Aaron took the gold from the people's hands, fashioned it with a tool, and made a molten calf. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds a single phrase that changes the sc...
This is the verse that unlocks the whole story. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan fills in what the plain Hebrew leaves as silence: "For Aaron had seen Hur slain before him, and was afraid; a...
Before Moses even had a chance to open his mouth, God commanded him to keep it closed. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the command in all its strangeness: "Cease from thy prayer, ...
The moment of decision came quickly. Moses did not walk into the center of the camp. He stood at its edge, at what Targum Pseudo-Jonathan calls the sha'ar sanhedrin, the sanhedrin ...
Three thousand men fell that day at the hands of the Levites. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, wants you to know exactly who died. "The sons of Levi did...
The morning after the Levites had gone through the camp with swords, Moses gathered the people for a speech that was not a speech. It was a confession, delivered to the ones who ha...
It is a small verse, easy to read past, but Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 35:1) marks a turning point. Moses gathers all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and says to the...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 39:33) does something the plain Hebrew text does not. It tells us where, exactly, the finished tabernacle was brought. Not to a random tent. Not t...
The altar of burnt offering was the first thing anyone saw on approaching the Tabernacle. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:29) places it exactly there, at the gate, before the ...
Exodus 40 ends with a single line of deep significance. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders (Exodus 40:33) simply: Moses reared up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, set the...
The greatest prophet in the Torah, the man who spoke with God "face to face" (Exodus 33:11), the builder of the sanctuary itself. And he could not walk inside. Targum Pseudo-Jonath...
Memucan is not a minor courtier in Targum Sheni. He is Daniel under another name. The targum explains that Daniel was called Memucan because heaven had arranged for Queen Vashti's ...
The Torah gives us a glimpse into such an experience with the story of the Ohel Mo'ed, the Tent of Meeting. The Book of Exodus describes how Moses would set up this tent "outside t...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob's Heavenly Vision. The Torah tells us (Gen. 28:10-19) that Jacob dreamt of a ladder set upon the earth, its top reaching to heaven, with angels ascen...
That raw, visceral feeling is at the heart of a powerful story about Moses and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Moses, our leader, the one who brought us out of Egypt, l...
Our tradition teaches us that the world itself was once like that, a desolate and empty space, until something truly remarkable happened. Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic ...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Aaron and Moses of Elazar. What exactly happened to these two sons of Aaron, the High Priest? Why does the Torah repeat their fate in several places? Bamid...
Take the story of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, who famously perished while offering "alien fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1). Their death is mentioned no less than four...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Why Aaron Was Warned About the Kehatites and the Ark. Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 5, which explores the passage about the Keh...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Kingdom of Nazirite. So, what's going on here? Why all the fuss about hair? Rabbi Yoshiya suggests that the verse emphasizes the importance of the peace of...
The Torah gives us hints, scattered like precious gems, and the Rabbis, masters of interpretation, piece them together for us. Take (Numbers 7:89): "And when Moses came into the Te...
"Aaron will be gathered to his people," God tells Moses, "for he will not come into the land that I have given to the children of Israel, because you defied My directive at the wat...
The Book of Numbers, in the Torah, gives us a powerful story, one unpacked beautifully in Bamidbar Rabbah, a classical midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection (a mi...
We offer things up, whether it's time, effort, or, as in the ancient Israelite tradition, animal offerings. But to whom are we offering? And why? The book of Numbers, in chapter 28...
Our journey starts with a verse: "Say to them: This is the fire offering that you shall bring to the Lord: unblemished lambs in the first year, two each day, a continual burnt offe...
The ancients certainly did. Take clouds, for example. We see them drift across the sky, maybe bringing rain, maybe just shading the sun. But did you know that the rabbis saw in clo...
The familiar story centers on their shame and banishment, but the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) saw something even deeper happening at that moment. Somet...
The familiar telling remembers its benefits, but Jewish tradition also explores its potential pitfalls, especially when it comes to spiritual well-being. Rabbi Elazar, commenting o...
The verse in Genesis (6:14) states: "Craft for you an ark of cypress wood; you shall craft the ark with compartments, and you shall coat it within and without with pitch." Now, Rab...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Did Abraham Kill Righteous People Among His Enemies. Rabbi Levi offers two fascinating takes on Abraham's fear. The first stems from the battles Abraham fo...
The story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom, as explored in Bereshit Rabbah 50, is a stark reminder of how attachment to material possessions can cloud our judgment and even enda...
Our story begins with the verse: "It was after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived beside Be’er Laḥai Ro’i" (Genesis 25:11). Be’er Laḥai Ro’i, meaning ...
It’s a beautiful, cyclical relationship, one that Jewish tradition explores in fascinating ways. Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Ge...
